Curious Teenaged Polar Bear Checks Out Teens on the Tundra
Posted at 7:20 pm October 5, 2006 by Shelby S.Shelby is studying wild polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, through the Science Leadership Camp for teens, sponsored by Polar Bears International (PBI). Read her previous blog entry, The Northern Lights and The Life of a Fur Trapper
Hey you all!
This morning we had a surprise visit from a sub-adult bear. He was very curious and in fact came up for a closer look.
Yes, I took this photo. This is one of the most memorable pictures I have taken on this trip. I really enjoyed watching this young bear because of his body language. He would glance at us, then take a few steps and look back again.
Today we didn't go out and explore the tundra, we prepared for a videoconference with an elementary school from southern Manitoba. This was a bit stressful because sometimes our Internet connection would freeze, maybe because of the Arctic wind. Our Internet connection goes from the Tundra Buggy Lodge out through a microwave signal into Churchill. When the wind blew the dish, we lost our connection. Part of the goals of this program is for us kids from all over the world to share our experience with our communities. A few of the Ambassadors of the Arctic from last year's group were at the elementary school on the other end of our videoconference! The whole thing was an amazing way for us to connect those kids in the Winnipeg area with this far away place.
The videoconference was just like televison, everything was on pins and needles. Even though the school had e-mailed us the questions ahead of time, my friend Tamara and I both had to wing some answers to the questions that our group was not prepared for. I love having to be quick witted on the spot, therefore this was quite fun. Everything went really well and the kids at the other end enjoyed it.
Tomorrow we get to go out on the helicopters for a long flight across the tundra to a maternity den. This is going to be awesome. I have been in a helicopter once before in Los Angeles with a stunt pilot. We flew by the Hollywood sign and through the skyscrapers of downtown LA. I expect the views to be quite different tomorrow.
Shelby S. is the San Diego Zoo's Arctic Ambassador.
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October 6th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
what a great photo, I really envy you, what an experience. I wonder what they think when they look at us looking at them. this bear is beautiful. You are so lucky to have a lifetime of wonderful memories and photos. I hope you will share some of them with us.
October 6th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
Wow! That's awesome you saw a polar bear that close, and that's a cool picture too! And I'm sure the helicopter flight will be amazing tomorrow. Let us know how it goes!